So after a confirmation both here and in the Vcon thread, Mac daddy (with peas) is in the fridge waiting for dinner time. Glad I did it early as I neglected to make a double batch of the sauce (I apparently don't read directions so well lately!) but at least the sauce doesn't take long to make.

Now I get to tackle the many days of dishes I've accumulated.

_________________Anyone for some German Shepherd Pie? - daisychainWell! Fruit is stupid! These onions taste nothing like fruit! - allularpunkDwarf-tossing for God: A Story of Hope - Invictus

The Ancho Lentil Tacos and the Mexican Millet are like 2 of my fav recipes EVER. I want to make burritos now and freeze them. This thread is reminding me of a ton of recipes I need to do again.

Last night I made the Bistro Broccoli Chowder from AFR. I think I have cooked almost everything in that book now that I have a desire to make!

No pic...it was not the prettiest bowl of soup, but we liked it a lot! it was simple, filling, and SUPER cheap to make. I had a friend come by to drop off something as I was cooking it, and she was freaking out about how good it smelled! I am going to give her the recipe :)

We did blend it a lot, but left chunks of potato and broccoli. It was missing something, I have to say. I use my own broth, which is mild, so I usually have to add salt or other stuff to soups to kick it up. I added a handful of nooch to this, some salt, and some lemon juice. It was perfect. This recipe is a total keeper! It would be easy to add to as well, it's one of those kinds of recipes. You can play with the herbs for sure. I used fresh rosemary from my garden. Basil would be great at the end too, before blending.

Last night I made the Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa salad & balsamic vinaigrette from AFR plus the Simple Italian Sausages recipe from the blog.

Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa salad & balsamic vinaigrette: I had always passed over this recipe because it seemed so simple, like the sort of thing I would throw together without a recipe. But sometimes simple things can surprise you, and I had all the ingredients anyway, so I figured I'd give it a shot. The verdict? Nothing earth-shattering, but a very good basic salad. There is a LOT of quinoa in this salad, which is good if you're having it alone as a meal, but since I had another proteiny dish to go with it I probably would have been OK reducing the amount of quinoa somewhat. The vinaigrette is good, nice and tart. Honestly, I prefer my balsamic vinaigrettes a bit on the sweeter side, but this is a solid recipe if you've never made a balsamic vinaigrette before and aren't sure what to do.

Simple Italian Sausages: I've actually made this recipe a few times before, but I figured I'd share my results because it's a great recipe! I was lazy and didn't mash my beans super-fine, so that's what the white flecks are. I've found that I like less fennel and more red pepper than the recipe indicates, but that's a matter of personal preference. I also started using marjoram instead of oregano and I think that's a good choice. Vegan Brunch is one of the only Isa books I don't have, but I think there are other variations on this type of sausage in there? Anyway, good stuff all around.

By the way, one serving of the salad and one sausage combined had over 40 g of protein. "But where do you get your protein?"

Made the banana bread from the blog yesterday. I am eating the last slice right now with peanut butter smothered on top, yummy! My DH said he would have liked it better with nuts but the kids prefer it without nuts so I can't please everyone! I will pot pics tomorrow with other things I have made this week after I make the orange cranberry muffins from VB.

Made the banana bread from the blog yesterday. I am eating the last slice right now with peanut butter smothered on top, yummy! My DH said he would have liked it better with nuts but the kids prefer it without nuts so I can't please everyone! I will pot pics tomorrow with other things I have made this week after I make the orange cranberry muffins from VB.

Why have I never thought to put peanut butter on banana bread before? Duh!

Limone wrote:

Last night I made the Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa salad & balsamic vinaigrette from AFR plus the Simple Italian Sausages recipe from the blog.

By the way, one serving of the salad and one sausage combined had over 40 g of protein. "But where do you get your protein?"

Haha, great pic too! By the way, VB has Cherry Sage, Chorizo, & Italian Feast Sausages, of which I've tried none. They're probably similar to the blog recipe.

So I caved & ordered Vegan Diner because I wanted to make more entrees than the free links provided. My copy finally arrived today and I'm stoked to look through it. I'll probably buy Viva Vegan too after this challenge is over because I've really enjoyed cooking from it and there are so many more recipes I want to make!

Made the banana bread from the blog yesterday. I am eating the last slice right now with peanut butter smothered on top, yummy! My DH said he would have liked it better with nuts but the kids prefer it without nuts so I can't please everyone! I will pot pics tomorrow with other things I have made this week after I make the orange cranberry muffins from VB.

the orange cranberry muffins from VB are divine. I made mine with fresh cranberries but now will have to make do with craisins since this is the one year I didn't over buy cranberries to freeze and use throughout the year :(

_________________"....but I finally found block tempeh a few weeks ago with the intent to give it my virginity." -Moon

Made the banana bread from the blog yesterday. I am eating the last slice right now with peanut butter smothered on top, yummy! My DH said he would have liked it better with nuts but the kids prefer it without nuts so I can't please everyone! I will pot pics tomorrow with other things I have made this week after I make the orange cranberry muffins from VB.

Why have I never thought to put peanut butter on banana bread before? Duh!

Limone wrote:

Last night I made the Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa salad & balsamic vinaigrette from AFR plus the Simple Italian Sausages recipe from the blog.

By the way, one serving of the salad and one sausage combined had over 40 g of protein. "But where do you get your protein?"

Haha, great pic too! By the way, VB has Cherry Sage, Chorizo, & Italian Feast Sausages, of which I've tried none. They're probably similar to the blog recipe.

So I caved & ordered Vegan Diner because I wanted to make more entrees than the free links provided. My copy finally arrived today and I'm stoked to look through it. I'll probably buy Viva Vegan too after this challenge is over because I've really enjoyed cooking from it and there are so many more recipes I want to make!

I have made the chorizo and italian feast sausages. my omni hubby has loved both of them. he really is a big fan of the steamed seitan sausages.

vegan diner is awesome, i'm looking forward to participating for the full two weeks this time since tummy bug is gone and my appetite is back with a vengeance (bad bun, i couldn't resist)

_________________"....but I finally found block tempeh a few weeks ago with the intent to give it my virginity." -Moon

Made the banana bread from the blog yesterday. I am eating the last slice right now with peanut butter smothered on top, yummy! My DH said he would have liked it better with nuts but the kids prefer it without nuts so I can't please everyone! I will pot pics tomorrow with other things I have made this week after I make the orange cranberry muffins from VB.

the orange cranberry muffins from VB are divine. I made mine with fresh cranberries but now will have to make do with craisins since this is the one year I didn't over buy cranberries to freeze and use throughout the year :(

Just before Thanksgiving I bought a HUGE bag of fresh cranberries from Costco and threw the whole bag in the freezer. I keep forgetting to use them so if this recipe is as great as you say it is I may be making a lot of these muffins!

So I caved & ordered Vegan Diner because I wanted to make more entrees than the free links provided. My copy finally arrived today and I'm stoked to look through it. I'll probably buy Viva Vegan too after this challenge is over because I've really enjoyed cooking from it and there are so many more recipes I want to make!

Ha, my copy of Vegan Diner arrived yesterday too! Mine came with Grills Gone Vegan; I couldn't resist either. I had Vegan Diner out from the library several months ago, and I tried a ton of recipes and loved pretty much all of them. It was time!

I made the Brown Basmati Biryani with Cashews from VEW tonight. Delicious! I talked about it in more detail in the VEW Cookbook thread. The house still has a wonderful lingering smell from when I made it.

Cruddy cell phone pic of portobello feijoada, savory orange rice, and smoky greens from Viva Vegan. I can't get enough of this meal! So happy there's a ton of leftovers.

Breakfast/desserts: lemon poppyseed muffins from VWAV. This is using white whole wheat flour and replacing half the oil with applesauce (oh and I used lemon extract instead of zest) and they're still light and fluffy! And some unphotogenic pics of chocolate chip banana bread pudding from Vcon. This stuff is so decadent, so easy to put together, and delicious! NOM.

I'm really enjoying this cookbook challenge! I've always wanted to do one but never got around to it.

Orzo Toasted Mujaddara from VEW. Not much to look at. The salad I just threw together and it has oranges, avos, and cilantro in a shallot lemon dressing. It was my favorite part of the meal! I prefer my old standby mujaddara from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. I've been making it for years and it's simpler and tastier because of the generous use of olive oil with the onions. And I think I like rice better than bulgur, but that may be because I'm used to it that way.

I also made the Italian Cashewcotta Cheesecake from VEW over the weekend and I'll post a link to it when ameyfm gets her blog post up about our "Spring Cleaning" potluck. The cake was awesome. I loved the hint of brandy, lemon and orange in it.

hhhmmm...... i might need to revisit 'viva vegan' after seeing everyone yummy food photos. my hubby loves "mexican" food (i don't like using that word, it makes me feel like a gringo) and this book might need to be looked at again..... i had looked at it at the bookstore but the i wasn't found of the page layouts/how the recipes were displayed

_________________"....but I finally found block tempeh a few weeks ago with the intent to give it my virginity." -Moon

Today I made the Lemony Roasted Potatoes (Veganomicon) and Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes (Vegan Brunch; I was inspired by the controversy). The potatoes were very good, the tempeh cakes okay. I wasn't particularly impressed, but I definitely didn't hate them like some of you did. ;) I made them without the sauce, because there wasn't any mayo left and the potatoes were saucy enough.

I wonder how this compares to the tagine in VWAV? Because I LOVED that tagine.

Shukriyya wrote:

Today I made the Lemony Roasted Potatoes (Veganomicon) and Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes (Vegan Brunch; I was inspired by the controversy). The potatoes were very good, the tempeh cakes okay. I wasn't particularly impressed, but I definitely didn't hate them like some of you did. ;) I made them without the sauce, because there wasn't any mayo left and the potatoes were saucy enough.

Those potatoes are fantastic.

_________________But if one were to tickle Pluto, I suspect that it might very quietly laugh. - pandacookie

55k usd is like 4 cad or whatever equivalent in beavers you use on the island - joshua

Just looked at the online resources for Vegan Diner and there isn't much, huh? Well, hopefully my library has it. Otherwise, I'll make biscuits and gravy, rice pudding, and then cook from something else the rest of the time!

_________________But if one were to tickle Pluto, I suspect that it might very quietly laugh. - pandacookie

55k usd is like 4 cad or whatever equivalent in beavers you use on the island - joshua